1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a battery connector for connecting a wire to an electrode of a battery mounted to an automobile.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIGS. 1, 2A and 2B show a conventional battery terminal described in JU-A 06-60053. A battery terminal 30 has a cam lever (an operation lever) 32 is pivotally mounted to a terminal main body 31. As shown in FIG. 1, the terminal main body 31 includes a fitting portion 33 formed so as to be bent in a C-annular shape, and a pair of folded pieces 34, 35 extending from both ends of the fitting portion 33 in parallel with each other. A pivoting shaft 36 is mounted to the pair of folded pieces 34, 35. The cam lever 32 is pivotably supported by the pivoting shaft 36. Then, a wire W is connected to one folded piece 34.
With reference to FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, an operation of the battery terminal 30 will be explained. As shown in FIG. 2A, when the cam lever 32 is caused to stand, a cam portion 32a stands correspondingly. Therefore, the fitting portion 33 has a large aperture. As a result, the fitting portion 33 is loosely fitted to a battery post 40.
After the fitting portion 33 is loosely fitted to the battery post 40, as shown in FIG. 2B, the cam portion 32a presses an outer peripheral face of the battery post 40 by falling down the cam lever 32. At this time, an inner peripheral face of the fitting portion 33 is pressure-fixed to an outer peripheral face of the battery post 40 due to a reaction force generated by pressing of the can portion 32a. As a result, the battery terminal 30 is electrically and mechanically connected to the battery post 40 by a friction force between the inner peripheral face of the fitting portion 33 and the outer peripheral face of the battery post 40.
However, since the above-described battery terminal 30 has an exposed metal portion, such as the cam lever 32, there is a risk that an operator may receive an electric shock at a time of detaching/attaching the fitting portion 33 from/to the battery post 40.